Of Milkshakes and Bruised Shoulders
by TheBookRider
Summary: Astrid thought night watch at Haddock Industries was pretty dull, until a green-eyed red head tries to break in. One shot! A little bit of Hiccstrid friendship.


**Of Milkshakes and Bruised Shoulders**

Astrid Hofferson was the only woman guard under Haddock Industries employment, and she believed that was the reason she always got stuck on night duty. None of the men wanted to man up and take the unpleasant job. Was there anyway to prove her theory? No. The whole thing made her mad because she was as tough as any other Viking. Give her a burglar and she would have him ground into submission in a minute.

Astrid would have given her right arm to have a burglar just _try_ to break in when she patrolled the parking lot of Haddock Industries. Presently, the night sky dangled the prospect of stargazing before her eyes, but the lights of New Berk City blotted the stars out, eliminating their chance to shine.

Astrid would have preferred brighter stars, for getting dumped on night patrol was the same as being put on paperclip guard duty: utterly boring. If the stars had been out, she could have amused herself by trying to count them.

She walked around the outside of the lab for the hundredth lap of the night, occasionally rubbing her eyes to keep them from drooping shut. No lights were on in the Haddock laboratories, but powerful street lights lighted up the humongous parking lot and the barbed wire fence surrounding the whole facility. The brightness made Astrid's eyes ache.

Suddenly, Astrid noticed an unfamiliar truck driving into the parking lot, which was forbidden during nighttime hours. Astrid wondered who would want to work at midnight as the truck pulled into a handicapped spot.

Well, it didn't matter, because she was going to chase whomever it was off. Slamming her baton into her hand, she purposefully strode towards the parking lot. The driver of the truck was already out of his vehicle and limping over to the glass front doors of the lab. He started messing with the lock.

When Astrid was about three feet away from him, she barked, "Hey! You!"

He jumped a foot in the air. Astrid unhooked her flashlight from her utility belt, shining it in his eyes on purpose. Now that she could see him properly, she noted his red hair and bright green eyes. He was skinny, which made him look excessively taller than he actually was. Freckles splattered across his nose, giving him a cute look.

 _Get a grip, Hofferson,_ Astrid told herself. _He might be cute, but he's still trying to break in._

"Could you point your flashlight somewhere else?" he asked. "I think I have brightness permanently embedded in my retinas." His voice was slightly nasal, not the tenor tone Astrid was expecting.

"You're trespassing on private property," Astrid informed him, not moving the flashlight. "I can legally arrest you," she added gleefully.

The man raised his arms, trying to pacify her. "I was just trying to get into-"

"Aha!" Astrid crowed, interrupting him. "So you're admitting to breaking in!" At least he was an honest burglar.

"No! Here, let me show you." The red head reached into the chest pocket of the leather jacket he was wearing and began to take something out if it.

That was about as far as he got. Whenever a person reached into the pocket of their coat, it usually meant that they were pulling out a gun. Astrid reacted and whammed her baton into his hand, sending the object sailing across the pavement.

"Why would you _do_ that?" the man cried, holding his injured hand with his other one.

"You pulled a gun on me and you want to know what I did that for?" Astrid sputtered in disbelief. She was beginning to consider calling the mental hospital and seeing if this guy was an escapee.

"That wasn't a gun, it was my wallet! I was going to show you my identification to prove that I'm permitted to enter this building."

Astrid eyed him distrustfully. He _could_ be telling the truth. She kept her gaze on him as she crouched to the ground and scooped up the item that had flown from his hands. It was, in fact, a wallet. She flipped it open to his driver's license. It read HICCUP H. HADDOCK.

"Haddock?" Astrid asked. The name was familiar. Where had she heard it before?

Hiccup nodded, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Haddock," Astrid muttered, chewing on the inside of her cheek in thought as she handed the wallet back to him. Her eyes widened when it came to her. " _Haddock?_ As in _HADDOCK INDUSTRIES?"_

Hiccup nodded smugly. "I founded the company. Am I acquitted now?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"But you...you...what are you doing here?" she demanded finally. "I've never seen your truck before."

"That's because I typically walk to work. And my lab is in there." He jerked a thumb at the glass doors.

Astrid nodded, and then without warning, punched him in the arm.

 _"What was that for?!"_ Hiccup howled, clutching his arm. "A guy can only lose so many appendages in one night!"

"That was for sticking me on night watch duty!" Astrid asserted. "It stinks!"

"I didn't! Whoever is in charge of security did," Hiccup defended himself. "If you want, I'll have a talk with them. And by the way, you look exactly like a Valkyrie when you're mad. That's probably why you got put on night duty."

"Excuse me?" Astrid arched an eyebrow, suddenly conscious of her blue eyes and especially her

blonde hair. He must have thought she was one of those crazy blondes.

"You've got a fire in your eyes. It would scare away any sane prowler. Loki's laughter, it deterred even me!"

"Oh." Whatever that meant. "Why are you working in your lab so late?" Surely whatever he was tinkering on wasn't so important that he needed to come in the wee hours of the morning.

"My leg."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Your leg?"

"Yeah." Hiccup grinned and rolled up his left pant leg to reveal a prosthetic made up of a bunch of overlapping metal plates that ended right below his knee. He rapped the artificial leg and it made a light clanging sound. "Lost it in a car accident a couple of years ago. I got into a little scuffle after work and I didn't notice until now that all the wiring is jammed up. The tools that I need to fix it are inside."

That explained his earlier appendage comment. Astrid gaped at the prosthetic in amazement. "Did you design this yourself?"

Hiccup looked flustered. "Well, yeah. It's..." He didn't complete the thought.

"It's amazing!" Astrid exclaimed, finishing it for him.

Hiccup rolled his pant leg down. "It's also broken, so can I go in now that my credentials have been made clear?"

"Fine."

Hiccup swiped a card in the door lock and soon they were inside the building.

"You don't have to follow me," Hiccup said over his shoulder, limping ahead and swiping his card in another door.

"Yeah. But I'm bored and watching you fix stuff ought to be better than walking around in the dark. And I _am_ the guard. How do I not know that you aren't going to steal something while you're here even if you _are_ the founder?"

Hiccup shrugged and flipped on a light switch. "Fair enough. Suit yourself."

Astrid leaned up against the door frame and watched him take off his leg and set it on his workbench. Half of the room was cluttered with tables, tools, metal parts, and machinery. The second half was a science lab with Bunsen burners and a whole white board covered in scientific equations that blew Astrid's mind.

"So," Hiccup said, bending over his appendage with a tiny screwdriver. "How did you end up working as a _night_ guard? Someone like you should be doing... I don't know..."

"Something?" Astrid cracked her knuckles slowly. "I've got a minor science degree, believe it or not. No one would hire me, though. Most stuff goes over my head, but I know a decent amount. After college I ran professionally, but tore a muscle in regional finals. Haven't gotten back into it."

Sometimes she missed running, the thrill of the air rushing by her as she sliced through it and the triumph that came after crossing the finish line first. Why had she become a guard, again?

Hiccup pulled a wire out of a supply drawer in his desk. "Interesting," he commented, squinting at the labeling around the wire.

"You're thinking about something," Astrid accused, recognizing the tone of his voice from one of her siblings, who was a psychologist. "What is it?"

"Well..." Hiccup started out slowly. "I might just be the owner of this here establishment and I might just be the guy who hires the scientists."

Astrid gasped. He had just met her; surely he wouldn't actually promote her. Would he?

"Don't get me wrong. I'd still have to have proof of your degree and stuff like that." Hiccup snapped a metal plate back onto his prosthetic. "There! All done! And without swiping anything." Hiccup put his leg back on and turned to Astrid. "So, what do ya think?"

Astrid's jaw hit the ground. "You would do all that for me?"

Hiccup grinned and rolled his pant leg back down. "Sure. That's what friends are for, right?"

Astrid smiled. "Right." And then she promptly punched him in the arm for the second time that evening.

"Hey!" Hiccup grumbled. "What's up with you and violence?"

" _That's_ for not being a real burglar! I wanted some action! Do you know how boring it gets on night watch?"

Astrid was rewarded with a grin that revealed dimples in Hiccup's cheeks.

"So I've heard. I'm so sorry I inconvenienced you, Milady. Prithee, tell me how I might win back thy honor," he dramatized, adopting a fake accent and sweeping his arm out with flair.

Astrid pretended to consider his proposal. "You can buy me a milkshake," she decided.

"Are you kidding me? Those are expensive!" Hiccup whined, pulling out puppy eyes on her.

"I _could_ report you and have you arrested for lounging around after hours," Astrid reasoned, fingering her baton.

"A milkshake it is! Lead the way!" Hiccup pointed towards the door.

And so began a friendship of many milkshakes and bruised shoulders.

 **A/N: NEVER EVER tell me to write a short dialogue, because if you do, you'll get something like all...this. The ten underlined words were required in the English assignment, if that explains any awkwardness of word usage. The book always gives the most ridiculous words for me to use.**

 **~Rider**


End file.
